The PM Narendra Modi led Cabinet has approved the revamp of Khelo India scheme. The news was confirmed by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore during a press conference at the PIB Conference Hall, Shastri Bhavan. While addressing the media in the presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Health Minister JP Nadda, Rathore said the decision to revamp Khelo India has been taken with twin goals: Sports For All and Sports For Excellence. He said that the revamped Khelo India aims at impacting the entire sporting ecosystem, with wide-ranging interventions. Along with this, the Sports minister also confirmed that each athlete selected under this scheme will receive an annual scholarship worth Rs 5 lakh for 8 consecutive years.

According to a press release by PIB, the Narendra Modi government will invest Rs 1,756 crore in the Khelo India scheme. It comes as a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development, economic development and national development.

The latest development will impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy. Under this scheme, the government will provide a scholarship to 1,000 talented youngsters across various sports disciplines.

The government aims to promote gender equity and social inclusiveness in sports along with engaging youth living in disturbed and deprived areas, in sporting activities, to wean them away from unproductive and disruptive activities and mainstream them in the nation-building process.
Under this programme, the government will try to use the latest technology in all aspects of sports promotion such as, use of mobile apps for dissemination of sports training; National Sports Talent Search portal for talent identification; interactive website for indigenous sports; GIS-based information system for locating and using sports infrastructure, etc.

Here are some features of the programme:
1. A pan India scholarship which will sponsor at least 1000 athletes across India.
2. All the athletes selected under the scheme will be given an annual scholarship of Rs 5 lakh for 8 consecutive years.
3. It will promote 20 universities across the country as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sports persons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.
4. It also aims at promoting a healthy lifestyle among youngsters.
5. Last but not the least, the programme will cover around 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive, which will not only measure the physical fitness of all children in the age group but also support their fitness-related activities.